Silver, gold prices should continue rising, Coeur d’Alene’s CEO says

That represents a 19 percent increase in silver production and 40 percent rise in gold production over last year.

The increase was due mainly to the fact that for the first full year the three mines were all operating at the same time.

But he said the estimate had been pared back because of lower expectations at its Kensington gold mine in Alaska, which began operating in July 2010.

“It probably opened a little too soon and things had not been completed,” he said. The company will take six months to address underground construction and development issues.

Coeur originally expected to produce 100,000 ounces of gold there this year and that was scaled back to 85,000 ounces.

Next year, Krebs said, Kensington will produce about 4,000 ounces per month for the first six months before production is pushed up. By 2013, production will be at 130,000 ounces of gold per year, at costs of around $700 per ounce — down from $990 now.

Krebs also said the company faces a labor shortage in the area, with levels about 25 percent below capacity.

“There is a tightness in the industry in general, and not just miners, but technical talent and engineers,” he said. “And it’s going to get worse.”

Coeur’s stock closed down 2.4 percent at $28.74 on the New York Stock Exchange. – Reuters

 

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